Harry Potter and the Child of Dark
by Kazngaw
Summary: read and find out why?all original characters credit to JKR
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Locked Door **

Its pitch black and not a sound can be heard. Gliding through the hallway, a shrouded figure makes his way silently towards a door. The figure glides straight through the closed door and finds him in a circular room. When the figure reaches the centre of the room; the room begins to spin. When it stops spinning, the man finds himself surrounded by doors. In contemplation, he absently caresses the head of the snake that is coiled around his shoulders. The snake slithers down and circles the room flicking its tongue every now and then, anticipation of a particular scent. After she has locked onto that scent, she coils at the door to the figure's left, waiting patiently for her master to come forward.

With a flick of the wand, he unlocks the door, gliding straight ahead in urgency with Nagini in his stride. The door opens into a long, seemingly endless and empty corridor, with a small door at its far end.

The stone walls are thread bare and plain, devoid of any décor. The absence of windows keeps the corridor immersed in darkness. The corridor is so dark that the door at the end would have gone unnoticed had thick black silvery smoke had not been emanating from its base.

As Voldemorte advanced towards the door, the thick black smoke now started coming out in frenzy, in billows, in puffs and draughts and nearly engulfs the door. The silver snake rears its head in anticipation and hisses softly, almost like a moan.

The explosion flings the door clear off its hinges as if the darkness from within the room had exploded and was uncoiling like a lethal snake engulfing everything in its vicinity. Then suddenly amidst the darkness and smoke arises a beacon of light, a light so bright that it shines like the light of a thousand suns. The bright light seems to pierce Voldemorte's eyes like sharp daggers forcing him to shield them with his hand. Nagini hisses as though calling out to somebody, with whom she had a long forgotten relationship.

The bright light was blinding and Harry woke up in a cold sweat, and covered his face with his hands. Beads of sweat glinted on his forehead, as his scar fired up with searing pain. It seemed to rip his head apart. He jerked his hand up to the scar, rubbing it furiously, hoping desperately that this would ease the pain. For a minute, Harry imagined himself standing in the smoke-filled corridor and then it dawned on him that this had been one of his frequent incursions into Voldemorte's mind that Hermione was so scared of. However he could not make out what this meant- Voldermote moving in for another kill- that's the first thought that occurred to him. He vowed to tell Ron and Hermione about this, first thing in the morning.

He sat still waiting for the pain in the scar to subside and as he looked around the room he saw Ron sleeping in the adjoining bed. Suddenly the ghoul in the attic gave a moaning wail bringing Harry back to full consciousness.

As the door flew open, torn off its hinges, Voldermote stopped in his tracks. The silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway, radiating blazing light, making Voldermote shield his eyes. The man beckoned Voldermote forward, his order coming in a long drawn whispery hiss. As Voldermote moved closer to the man, he noticed the small stature of the man. In spite of his small build, the man looked imposing with flowing black hair and a haggled beard that reached down to his waist. He was wrapped in a ragged blanket which gave off a reeking smell.

As the smoke in the corridor thinned out, the room that it led to came into clear view. It was a small room completely made up of stone, with a heavy set of chains that had been snapped clean into two, apparently by this frail man. The small room, like the corridor housing it, was threadbare, devoid of windows and had a strange aura of finality to it. What the Dark Lord could not comprehend was _how this seemingly common looking man had survived this nearly eternal imprisonment. _The door showed no signs of any opening of any sort through which food could have been passed into the room_. How then, had this man survived- was it sheer determination to live or an ulterior motive so powerful that he had even overpowered Death to pursue it._

As the man moved towards Voldermote, unbeknownst to him Nagini had slithered towards the frail being and had coiled herself around his body. For a split moment Voldermote thought that Nagini was intent on killing the man but then he realized that he was actually stroking the snake's head with gentle, undisguised fondness. His pupils glowed like burning coals in the deep hollow sockets of his eyes and his lips curled in a snide sneer as Voldemorte's eyes, for the first time, betrayed a hint of fear and confusion. However overcoming that dash of indecisiveness, Voldermote confronted the frail man pointing his wand at him. _Who is this creature… just another of my countless victims. However he does seem to be deeply familiar. Am I making a grave mistake...?_

He opened his mouth to speak but the man raised a bony finger and silenced his instantly. The boldness of this man, the strange behaviour of Nagini and the sudden unintended obedience that he had just shown to this frail man left Voldermote confused and bedraggled. He was spellbound for a moment and for the first time began to regard him with a renewed respect that he had never had for anyone else before.

His attention was drawn towards the long nails on the man's fingers and toes. They seemed to be filled with centuries worth of dirt and scum. Finally his eyes settled on a ring that the man wore on the third finger of his right hand. It was a silver ring shaped like a serpent eating its own tail. The serpent's eyes were made of diamonds, but what captivated his eye was the large green emerald that was set in its fangs.

After what seemed like hours, actually could have been just a few moments, the man cleared his throat and addressed, not Voldermote, but Nagini in a hiss, "_Have you come to take me home, my darling. But I can't return home wearing rags_."

He snapped his fingers and out of nowhere sable green robes appeared clothing his body, replacing the reeking shawl. Without another word, he snapped his fingers again, and the walls of the corridor began to close in on them and Voldermote felt himself spinning as everything around them blacked out. The next instance, Voldermote found himself facing a massive door encrusted with emeralds and rubies. The door seemed to be set in an imposing stone wall, an entrance to a very ancient and large, apparently desolate castle.

The castle was shrouded with overgrown creepers and the hedge around its unkempt garden had grown erratically and seemed to effectively play its role of walling off any intruders. The prickly thorns on the creepers would have been a daunting obstacle to overcome, had some intruders managed to filter in through the hedge. The garden, though unkempt and untended, seemed to be in full bloom tonight. Every flower, every bud, every leaf seemed to be aware of the fact that the rightful master of the castle had finally returned to take control and seemed to sway rhythmically, even though the air around was dead still.

Voldemorte turned his attention back to the towering castle. Its stone towers and turrets were high, with tiny windows set in them. The door had a massive silver door knocker shaped like a basilisk's head, encrusted with emeralds. The man who had brought Voldermote to this unknown destination had been standing in silence observing him take in all the sights around him.

Suddenly the sky went dark as the moon took refuge behind a cluster of clouds. With a deep sigh, which signalled the finality of his homecoming, the master of the castle, delicately touched the massive door knocker and the door opened noiselessly. The man strutted into the castle, beckoning Voldermote in behind him. The hall they had entered into was dark, but was apparently large and spacious. The man walked into the centre of the room and snapped his fingers- green flames erupted in the several lamps that were hanging from the ceiling, giving the room a magnificent green halo. With a high strung, cackling laugh the man seated himself on a throne like chair placed under the now brightly lit chandelier, and said just three words, "_Home Sweet Home_!"

After a moment's hesitation, Voldemorte tore his eyes away from the green flames of the chandelier and found him-self gazing at the room filled with heirlooms of his ancestor- Salazar Slytherin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Muzamorous Kazum Weasley**

Voldemorte finds himself gazing at the heirlooms of Slytherin, most of which had been rumoured to have been lost over the ages. An emerald encrusted sword, enormous silver shields mounted high up on the walls, silver goblets decorated with the crest of Slytherin lay on a nearby table filled with a fuming liquid of green pallor. Within a glass cabinet dusty old brooms were placed neatly in a row; each bore the Slytherin crest shouting out the fact that they were custom made. The silver throne like chair on which the man reclined, itself had arm-rests fashioned like cobras rearing to strike.

These clearly belonged to the Slytherin family; this insolent puny man was definitely a thief who must have looked for these heirlooms all his life and gathered them together in this run down castle, thought Voldemorte to himself. How else have these precious artefacts come under his care? He raised his wand towards the man and accused the little man of robbery.

"How dare you touch the precious artefacts of the great and noble wizard Salazar Slytherin, my ancestor? I shall teach you to respect those above you before condemning you to a fair punishment of death."

Fuming with rage the man raised a bony finger warningly at Voldemorte, "You accuse me of stealing things that rightfully belong to me…"

His sentence was cut off as in an instant as Voldemorte fired a curse. A jet of green light issued from his wand and hit the man squarely between his eyes, a sigh of surprise escaped the man's dry lips and after a moment of stillness a loud noise of glass shattering could be heard.

The sound was coming from behind Voldemorte, and the man he expected to see lying sprawled on the floor, was standing stock still in front of the silver throne. For a moment Voldemorte thought the man had become wedged in something and that was why his body had not fallen. But looking into the man's eyes realization struck him like a sledge hammer. The man was alive. How was it possible, he had thought to himself, but his thoughts were interrupted as the man began to laugh hysterically. Fear began to take its hold on Voldemorte's mind, but fury was faster. He instantly fired Stunners mixed in with the Unforgivable curses and to his dismay all seemed to bounce off the man in all directions, leaving him unscathed. Realising the man was impervious to all the spells he could throw at him, Voldemorte tried to Disapparate, however his attempt was futile. Bile began to rise in Voldemorte's throat; panic had a firm grasp on him now. Is this how it all ends? He thought to himself. Looking for a way to save himself, he ran to the last exit he knew was still available to him. But the door shut at the last instant in Voldemorte's face. Frantically trying to come up with a plan, Voldemorte lunged for the emerald encrusted sword, hoping to engage this mysterious man in hand-to-hand combat.

He never reached the sword; instead there was a noise of someone crashing into a wall. Voldemorte seemed to have hit an invisible barrier between him and the sword.

In sheer desperation he yelled at Nagini, still coiled around the man, to kill him. Nagini's inaction drove Voldemorte over the edge and he lunged towards the man wanting to strangle the imbecile with his own hands. Just before he reached the man Nagini reared for the attack and hissed in warning tones.

Driven to the end of his tether, Voldemorte tried to stun the man again but instead found that he could no longer perform any magic. As his power failed him, he fell to his knees and stared at the man's feet expecting death to strike at any instant.

After a moment of indecisiveness, Voldemorte looked up at the man and found him absently caressing Nagini's head and staring at a gigantic green and silver tapestry on the wall to the left, completely absorbed in it. Following the man's gaze Voldemorte shifted his sights to the object of the man's attention and found he was staring at a humungous family tree. Intrigued, he inched closer to inspect the tapestry. A silver gleam caught his eye and looking down near the bottom he found a long despised name sewn with silver thread, TOM MARVOLLO RIDDLE. His name was connected to his mother's by a golden line, which he traced to the top of the tree - to Voldemorte's utter surprise; he found two names sewn in an elaborate calligraphy at the top - above the name of his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, and connected to it by the golden thread, two names shone brightly as ever as if they are made of real silver: MOMENTUS SLYTHERIN and NAGINI SLYTHERIN.

Harry woke up to the smell of freshly made bacon and eggs. A sudden and sharp jolt of pain in his scar reminded him of his latest dream; a smoking door, a bright white flash – resolving to tell Ron and Hermione at the first opportunity, he got ready to go down for breakfast.

Ron was still asleep as Harry left the room and started his descent. On the first landing he paused and strained his ears to make out any sound from Ginny's room, but she seemed to be asleep as well. The only sounds were coming from the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was fretting over Bill's hair and insisted on giving him a hair-cut, while Bill was trying to put off his mother and Fleur was declaring Bill more handsome than ever. Harry entered the kitchen to find Bill torn between his mother and bride-to-be. Lupin and Tonks tried to hide their presence by keeping as silent as they could manage without letting Mrs. Weasley hear their snickers.

Just as Harry entered the kitchen Mrs. Weasley rounded on him, asking his opinion about Bill's hair. Her question was interrupted by a loud bang. Everyone turned just in time to see Pigwidgeon slide down the closed kitchen window. The tiny owl, in his hurry to deliver the letter had crashed into the window. Mrs. Weasley moved to open window and brought Pig inside and placed him on the table. Unfazed the tiny owl lifted his leg like a true messenger owl would and waited. Harry detached the letter and read it.

"It's from Charlie," he said. "He says that he will be arriving with Fred and George. They have got all the stuff that you had asked them to get, Mrs. Weasley." With that he passed on the letter to Mrs. Weasley.

At the same time another large tawny owl glided in through the window and landed smoothly on the table, holding its leg out. This was Post owl, and seeing its professionalism made Pig droop. Tonks reached the owl first and took the letter from it. She read it and announced, "Oh, it's from Hagrid, he says that he is arriving tomorrow morning with Mr. and Mrs. Delacour. Hagrid has met up with them and Madame Maxime will be coming too. The letter also says that they have another guest, a young boy. The boy will be coming today at around mid day. Who might that be?"

"Charmant! They will all be coming tomorrow." Fleur added.

"Oh, he must be referring to Jacque's and Renée's son." Mrs. Weasley put in looking at Ron who had just stumbled into the kitchen still in his pyjamas and bleary eyed.

"Who is that?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"Jacque is your father's cousin and Renée is mine; they used to live in Paris. Now they live in the Black Forest area in Germany. Uncle Jacque and Aunt Renée's boy, I seem to have forgotten his name, should be about your age, Ron. Bright child, and very polite he is. Unfortunately he is the only Weasley who has not attended Hogwarts. They sent him to Durmstrang. Also, he doesn't have our trademark red hair for some odd reason that even the doctors at St. Mungo's couldn't explain. Be nice to him Ron and show him around when he comes; he will be feeling very lonely out here, I don't think he has been to England in the last 15 years. That reminds me, I have to get him from the station with Arthur in a little while."

Just then Hermione walked into the kitchen dressed and ready to begin the day. She was closely followed by a still muttering Ginny. "Why does he always have to leave the toilet seat up?" Luckily only Hermione caught the dark look that Ginny gave Ron.

Lupin got up to make room for the newcomers and moved closer to whisper something in Tonks ear to make her giggle like a school girl. She stopped suddenly and changed skin tone to red in embarrassment. After an awkward pause Lupin and Tonks bid everyone farewell and thanking Mrs. Weasley left to go on their assigned duties.

The departure of Mr. and Mrs. Lupin changed the atmosphere in the room from cheery to dull. At least it seemed that way to Harry. He had turned seventeen the previous night and everything had been almost perfect. His birthday dinner had only been marred by a visit from Rufus Scrimgeuor, Minister of Magic, prior to the dinner.

The Minister had come in the evening and had wanted to talk to only Harry, Ron and Hermione. He had told them about Dumbledore's Will, its detention and inspection by the Ministry of Magic, but as they could not find anything suspicious in it, and the legal limit of detaining wills was at an end, he had come to execute the last wishes of Dumbledore. To Harry, Scrimgeuor had given a golden snitch, the one he had caught in his very first Quidditch match. For Ron he had brought the Deluminator, however they hadn't yet figured out exactly what it was meant to do, apart from acting as a Put-Outer, of course. And lastly to Hermione he had given a cylinder which had alphabets engraved into it in six rows, and a book called _Muggle Secrets_ authored by Elijah J. Sabbath. Unable to persuade Harry to show support for the Ministry the Minister had left in a grim mood.

Mr. Weasley had come home just about the Minister had left and an hour later Harry's Birthday dinner had begun. It was a small and quiet meal by Ron's confession, but to Harry it was the most wonderful birthday he had ever had. There was only the exception of Sirius's absence and the Minister's visit. Mrs. Weasley with the help of Fleur and Ginny had made an enormous cake that resembled the snitch only a hundred times larger. Lupin and Tonks had come as well. Hermione had almost cried before the dinner, Harry didn't know if she was happier than him at his turning seventeen. Nevertheless, none of it mattered to Harry much; he was anxiously waiting for the time of his departure from the Burrow. He knew that it would be a sad moment when he left, how ever the sense of justice and love prevailed within him and he steeled himself for it.

A nudge from Ginny had brought him out of his reprieve; Ron had just about finished his breakfast, bacon and eggs, and Hermione's demeanour spoke volumes about her mental state. Then Ginny asked him to help her with something up stairs and they left.

Once in Ginny's room she turned around to size him up; he was still fairly pre-occupied and didn't seem to notice that she was waiting for him to stop dreaming. Realising that Ginny was staring at him with her hands folded in a perfect imitation of Mrs. Weasley, he started to apologise. "I am sorry, I was just thinking and got lost somewhere."

"I know perfectly well where you got lost and what you might be thinking about Harry, I am not a child!" Ginny responded. "I am sorry, really, but if you are going to leave then you must know that I will not go with you Harry. You know how I feel about you but this is too much even for me. I will stand by you Harry but if this is what you decided, then I will not be a part of it." Ginny proclaimed and immediately pounced on him to plant a firm and seemingly everlasting kiss. She turned away after what seemed like eons, and he could hear that she was sobbing. He could see her body heavy but he could not bring himself to reach out o her. Dumbfounded as he was, it seemed that his world had crashed around his ears, unable to respond to such a passionate outburst from the person he loved most all he did was stand in her room and stare at her back with tears gleaming in his eyes watching her sob with only sorrow to comfort her.

Harry left Ginny's room quickly and quietly and regretted it the minute he was a hair's breadth out of her room. He rushed down to the kitchen in the hopes that some work from Mrs. Weasley would drive away the heaviness that seemed to have settled around his shoulders. Instead he found Hermione washing the dishes manually, and Mrs. Weasley standing in the garden waiting for the mysterious boy to arrive by port-key. He could hear Ron making a racket in a successful attempt at pretending to be cleaning his room; rather he was having fun throwing things around and having a noise competition with the ghoul in the attic.

Hermione had heard him stumble into the kitchen and let out a melodramatic sigh. "You have done it, haven't you? Broken-up with Ginny and broken her heart and shattered her hopes and dreams. You know how bad she must be feeling? How much she loves you? How scared she is for you? Do you even realise how angry this will make Ron when he finds out? How she is going to try her best not to let everyone know for as long as she can? Don't you care?"

"Stop it. Stop all the lecturing. I care about her that is why I am doing this. It is the only way." Retorted Harry, "the only way I will know for sure that she is safe and won't get hurt. So don't you dare lecture me about this. You don't even know how I feel?" Not wanting to think about the entire business and not wanting to upset Hermione or himself further he just stopped and stared at his feet.

Reading Harry's thoughts and the tension in the room Hermione changed the subject. "I think I know what Scrimgeuor gave me and I might have some clues about it." She paused in an attempt to get a response, but at the lack of one she continued. "The object is called a cryptex; it's a device to hide things in, usually notes or maps. The paper is coiled around a small vial of something corrosive enough to eat through the paper if somebody tries to use force to open the cryptex; force is not the answer. Instead the six rows of alphabets are used to spell a code word which will then open up the cryptex and the document inside won't be harmed. Of course, this is all true if it is a cryptex like the ones I've read about in the book called the _Da Vinci Code_. If it is a magical representation or a magical artefact then I still have to read about it. I must read more just to be sure if I am right or not. The book that Dumbledore has left me is a great read and I am sure will come in handy, also it should have something about the so called cryptex. But a cryptex still seems a very impossible idea because it's so complex." Hermione faded into silence now slightly unsure of herself. She seemed to be second guessing herself a lot, but Harry knew she was almost always right.

"I am sure you are right, you try and read more about it and then we can discuss it further" Harry put in.

Just then there was a flash and a brown-haired boy stumbled in the garden in front of Mrs. Weasley, she helped him up and dusted off the dirt and then brought the boy into the kitchen. "Ah you are still here? Then I shall introduce you. This is Hermione Granger and this is Harry Potter" She said pointing to the two of them in respective order. "And this is Muzamorous Weasley." She said pointing to the boy dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, with light freckles, and **brown** hair. He looked like a Weasley but lacked the trademark red hair; an extremely perplexing matter, one that had the two of them confused. The sound of footsteps and Ron was pushing past Harry to get a better view. "This is my son Ron, I am sure the four of you will have a good time. Ron this is Muzamorous, Uncle Jacque's son." Mrs. Weasley introduced Ron to Muzamorous.

"Thank you Aunt Molly, nice to meet everyone." Muzamorous pitched in.

"Don't worry, you haven't met everyone yet. I am sure you are tired, let's have you rested and you can meet Arthur and Ginny at lunch." Mrs. Weasley started donning her motherly role and took him upstairs. "Why don't you clean out the hen-coup Ron? Hermione and Harry can help you." With that Mrs. Weasley and Muzamorous had vanished upstairs.

Ron was disgusted by the mere mention of him having to clean out the hen-coup, but Hermione quickly grabbed his and Harry's arm and dragged them to it. "This is one of the best opportunities to discuss our plans, don't you two realise this? Boys!" she scolded them in hushed tones.

Only after they had closed the door of the hen-coup and barred it from within did they take a hasty breath of relief and despair at the stench inside the coup. A thought came to Harry he had forgotten to tell these two about his dream. "Hey guys, I have to tell you something."

"I already know what you are going to say Harry; you dreamt about Voldemorte again didn't you?" Hermione cut in.

"Yes he did. He had me awake half the night. Was hissing like a snake, but then I was too tired and lost him at that point." Ron beat Harry to Hermione's question.

Only then did Harry tell them about his dream; watching through the eyes of Nagini, watching Voldemorte going to the Department of Mysteries and the unbearable flash. At that point he had woken up to find Ron snoring and not another sound from anywhere else except for the hooting of a couple of owls outside. As expected Hermione had her usual reaction, telling him to follow Dumbledore's advice and blocking the connection he had with Voldemorte. Ron had his typical apprehensive bout as well. Then Ron started screaming wildly and flailing his arms around.

"Gerritovme, gerritovme" Ron wailed. "That's a spider, gerritovme."

Harry and Hermione looked around but they couldn't even find a web so they glared at Ron till he was a nice maroon colour and absolutely confused.

"Don't look at me like that. It was just there, I am sure it was." Ron protested feebly.

"Moving on, the perfume just makes you want to stay here longer." Hermione started. "Have you figured out what the snitch is for Harry? What about the Deluminator Ron?"

There was no point in delaying any longer so Harry spoke up. "I don't know what it does or why Dumbledore left it to me. But I am sure it is significant, I just hope it isn't anything like the golden egg from the Tri-wizard Tournament."

"All I know is that the Deluminator just creates darkness, I don't think it has any other function Hermione, I am sure it doesn't." Ron put in his own conclusions.

"I think I have figured out where I can start looking for information about the cryptex and where I can find clue about everything we need to do. The book Dumbledore left me is a huge help, it documents numerous methods muggles invented and used to keep secrets. I also managed to enchant a small purse to store everything we need; you know the one you got me Harry. Hence, we should be able to take everything we need instead having to steal and pillage trash." Hermione finished.

"Alright! Returning to the plan we have." Harry caught on. "If you guys want to leave you can. I cannot force you to go with me and if you do come along then you should know it won't be easy and it will be dangerous." Firm nods of agreement urged Harry to go on. "Good, now that it is settled. You both know what we have to do? But before we get on with the mission, I intend to visit Godric's Hollow, somehow I feel that's the place where everything started."

Neither Ron, nor Hermione questioned the soundness of his plan or even his intentions. They felt that he was doing the right thing albeit taking a bit too many risks. As Harry explained his intended plan they listened with absolute attention only giving him suggestions to reduce the danger or risk at certain points. Harry knew they were doing their best to support him, and would go to the ends of the earth for him, but he could not bring himself to like them taking the risk. Godric's Hollow was where his parents had died protecting him, he had to visit their graves and check out the place for any clues. While, Grimmauld Place was the house of Sirius Black, his god father, the closest he had to his real father. The risk was that Voldemorte was sure to be watching those two places for signs of Harry, especially with Snape to provide him with all the information about the Order of the Phoenix and Grimmauld Place.

"Dumbledore told me a lot of things about Voldemorte in our meetings last year. He also told me about the Horcruxes, and as far as the last count we thought that Voldemorte has seven of them altogether. Slytherin's locket, Riddle's Dairy and Marvolo's ring are the three that we have destroyed. Dumbledore speculated that Voldemorte also made Nagini into a Horcrux, dangerous as she is a snake and not an inanimate object and can manipulate Voldemorte's soul stored within hers. This shows that Voldemorte has used objects of magical power and historical importance, therefore, we must look for something that he may have come in contact with but also belonged to one of the founders of Hogwarts." Harry completed.

"All that might be, but it still leaves us in the dark Harry." Hermione countered and after a pause mumbled a well aimed spell at a fly buzzing around her head. "Petrificus Anofilius."

A sudden loud bang and where the fly should have fallen dead stood the brown haired Weasley they had greeted earlier. "That was a mean thing to do. Why did you have to hit me with a spell leave alone a body binding one at that? All I did was buzz around your head." Muzamorous fumed.

Ron who had been content observing Hermione getting annoyed by the fly was shocked and fell. "Aren't you Muzamorous? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be resting?" The questions just flew out of his mouth.

Harry and Hermione were too stunned to talk yet.

Noting the expressions on everyone's face Muzamorous began. "Well you see it was easy slipping out. After all I am not tired; I travelled by port-key. Not like I walked all the way here you know. I thought I would just come down here and see what you guys are up to?"

"Stupefy" Harry yelled in a sudden burst of fury.

But Hermione was faster. "Protego" Muzamorous was secure safely behind her shield charm.

"He has been listening in to our discussion all this time. I bet he was the spider that Ron saw, weren't you, Muzamorous." Hermione said exasperated.

"Madamosielle, Muzamorous is a rather long name, all my friends call me Muzi. I'd like it if you do too.

When there was no reply he continued, "Actually you are quite right, I was the spider too, and let me tell you it was a delight realising the weakness of my cousin and watching him swinging his arms and wailing like a girl." Muzi declared.

Without a moment's hesitation Hermione had planted a full forced swinging punch squarely in Muzi's stomach. He fell to his knees gasping for breath and accusing Hermione of man-handling. Hermione's act had caught the other two just as much by surprise as Muzi. Ron didn't think it could get any worse but then Hermione said something to make his heart stop and stomach fall. "Muzi is a metamorphagus." Just that first word she said made him cringe. Why had Hermione addressed him by his stupid pet name? His mind raced. But his body was faster, he lunged for Muzi and was about to land a well aimed kick at his head when a hand came around and jerked him up short from behind.

"Are you crazy Ron?" Harry asked.

"But you saw he has been spying on us the little brat." Ron came back still undecided if he wanted to kill Muzi or just torture him.

"That is true, but we must not hurt him Ron." Hermione said thoughtfully.  
"But we can sure punish him." Ron said and once again moved in to kick Muzi as he was starting to get up.

Before Harry or Ron could do anything further Hermione added, " He is a metamorphagus, guys. Didn't you see him change into a spider and a fly…."

"Muffliato" Hermione added as an after thought.

Ron cut in, "But so is Tonks, so what's so great about him," he said pointing at the bound figure lying on the ground.

"He is different from Tonks. Tonks can only change her appearances and assume disguises. But he can actually metamorphage into different species. You know how rarely you get to see such a metamorphagus."

Ron and Harry were livid when Hermione said this. They couldn't believe their ears. Hermione was defending someone who had dared to spy on them, deceived them.

They were ready to beat the living day lights out of Muzi, but then something stayed their hands. All of a sudden they were smirking at each other, seeming to read each other's minds and knowing what they wanted done. After quick deliberation and a fleeting argument, they decided to remove the spells and get Muzi to talk, after making sure he didn't have a wand.

"Why were you spying on us then?" Ron asked just a tad bit more aggressively than needed.

"I just thought it would be fun to find out what you guys are doing." Muzi replied in mock obedience.

"You do realise that you are in a predicament?" Harry put in.

"No, you seem to be forgetting that I now know what you three are going to do after the wedding, I could just tell Aunt Molly." Muzi boasted from his sitting place.

"I think I have a solution to this." Hermione added. "You can come along with us on our little adventure trip. But if you tell anyone about what you have heard, I will make sure that even your mother won't be able to recognise you when I am through."

"Well if you put it that way my lady, then I needn't worry. You seem to forget that modifying my appearance is but child's play for me." Muzi tried charming her. "I shall be on my best, provided of course that I am involved in all the plans and everything, after all it isn't an adventure, it is an important mission that Dumbledore's left Potter I assume."

"It is a deal then, if you just sign on this piece of parchment. The two of you as well." Hermione ended slightly impressed by Muzi's level headedness.

Ron began to protest but a sharp nudge in the ribs from Harry stopped him before he could breathe a word.

"I will sign it if you would mademoiselle. Also, I get to keep the parchment." Muzi added his last demand to the deal.

"So be it then." Hermione said.

All four of them signed the tattered parchment and Muzi quickly stored it in one of his back pockets. Then they got down to the dirty work. A few minutes later the four of them had cleaned the coup and emerged out of it stinking but grim faced and determined. They walked back to the kitchen and then dispersed to go and clean up. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen preparing lunch and Ginny was there helping her. She avoided looking at Harry, but once the other three had left and Harry was beginning his ascent she glimpsed him looking at her.


End file.
